The Washington times. [volume], January 25, 1920, FINAL EDITION, The American Weekly, Image 33

About The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
?Ghost
e Patience
irran. Who
tt to Go
liopt It
**
R
s. John H. Curran, of St. Louis, the oui ja board
invelisi, poetess and adopted mother of the spirit
guided child, Patience Worth Wee.
ping of a child t In some indefinable way'"ehe"?
subconscious personality, phantom of the oui ja board,
siqn or whatever one may determine to call it??aa
;e ^certain actual physical ties. She points, for in
let, to the resemblance of hair and eyes. It is a rela
Iship that even the Currans do not pretend to under
id ; something hopeless to those who stand outside the
itie, maze of spiritualism. That "Patience" consider*
self the spiritual mother is positive?it is also certain
she thinks of herself in terms of a flesh-and-blood
her as well 1 According to her story, as told by Mrs.
?ran, "Patience" lived and died a spinster. Mrs. Cur
herself is childless. Nothing better can be done than
jive Mrs. Curran'? own explanation of this extraer
iry condition of affairs.
Of course," she saM, "the hands of 'Patience
rth' are invisible, and so where they are laid, in gu'td
or in smiting, often is not discernible. That she is,
m ? gli the in?? iitliers of our household, having much to
with everything in connection with the raising of the
e, 1 thoroughly believe.
"The times, however, are rare"when she has, in so
?y words, told Us what to do. Like a good superin
ient, ehe confines her orders to the times when she
s ?? going wrong, and aa long as we are going right
hing is said.
The babe was a weakling at firat, and it was often
?dieted that we would never raise it. Early in its life
had trouble with its food, ahd the family doctor at
ipted to lighten its food in order to let it recuperate,
realising the danger of starvation in the meantime.
in-???-.?' at tins moment stepped in and t?ld us it must
'e "pap, pap, and more pap!' And* when we called.in
pecialiet he began right away to fill it up with 'pap,'
? it soon got all right.
"Another time when some trouble wu on, 'Patience*
? us to 'herb* it, and when we asked what herb to give
ihe said 'catnip and fennel.' We sent ,for some, and
in the doctor came we told him of it; he laughed as he
I us that he had brought a bottle of it along with him
the baby 1
"But we have given the child good care physically.
> mental and spiritual part of it, the most important
t. we are, of course, the most anxious about. Its men
ty is positively astounding. At two years of age it
? singing songs to a banging accompaniment on the
no and was talking much At three years it is saying
rything it hears snd putting sentences together in a
rtling, original way.
G( is by mean* of the oui je
board that Mra, Curran
declares aha writs* the spook novels, and takes instruction for bringing up tha baby
fust as the spirit of "Patienoe Worth" dictatea to bar.
John H. Curran.
"Since it WM two it baa laid the fol
lowing prayer, which 'Patience' gave u?
to take the place of the old 'Now I lay
me,' because it has a line
which, she ?aid, would
frighten the children and
that waa not right?
"?, Thy child forever,
play
About Thy knees this
close of day.
Within Thy arm I now
shall creep
And learn Thy wisdom
while I sleep,
Amen.'
"Once we asked 'Pa
tience' if the child would
be something out of the
common, and she replied
that this was not her
hope; that if it would
grow to shed one pure ray
of God's light she would
be satisfied.
" '! say,' she told us one day, 'that this wee one is
more than a sign for earth to follow, for she hath with?u
her small hand the key that unlocks even the heart of
the great God, the key of love.
" Tho paths of earth are filled up of these wee ones
Wastes, lost loves, lost, upon the torrent-swept sea of
earth 's day without one beam or broken spar to bear up
their frailness. Behold, ? this babe is the very dregs of
sorrow, yet now clothed in love, look upon herl Glori
fiedf Oh, ye men! look upon her lips. The purity of
God's love is upon them and His heart may.be read within
her eyes.
" 'Nothing that contains the fire of Love can be called
a poor task, and I say that since those who live on earth
are loth to take these babes, then behold, these hands
shall lay hold upon flesh and minister unto it, even though
no man seeth their working I'
"I lave gathered from 'Patience,' " went on Mrs.
Curran following these quotations, "that she not only
takes the keenest delight in having thi? child of her own,
but she has hopes that the fact of her having adopted it
may encourage others to do the same, and thus the little,
helpless arms that are now raised to blank ceilings and
reach no mothering breast, and the little, weak voices
that call for the mother and hear no answering word,
may be given at least a mother's love once removed, and
thus feed the life of the child and the heart of the one
who takes it.
" 'God sha.ll come to the hearts of earth from ont the
babes,' said ?'Patience,' 'for surely aince God is in man,
he muet be renewed to the earth through the coming
of babea.
" 'Sir.' the aaid one night to a sweet girl who was
holding tbe Wee, 'thon knowett the warmth of the
bright flame that is kindling within thee at the touch of
this wee hand. Wrap thine arms about this wee sma'
flesh and let thy love clothe her warm. The '
earth hath a rich atore of love, but the
hands of men have locked up the atore and
it takes the hand of a babe to open it up. '
"From every land and clime have eome
presents and recognition for the flesh
representative of the great teacher of love
of God and Christ, 'Patience Worth.'
There have been many prayers from
"Patience" to God for her baby, but this
one, given upon her christening day, is the
fairest of them all :
."Out from the white lilies clothe
her. Out from ita stored and glisten
ing gold, to give her treasurer. Pluck
from the deep blue, the steadfast sky,
the opening unto depths that it may be
hers. Leave Thou the sun at every
dawn to show his light upon the hover
ing shadows that may ahow they be but
phantoms.
"Yet, leave her woe I Ah. strip her
not of thisl Make full her cup that she
may know Thy heights and depths.
Open up her heart and write Thee there
no promise of some golden real as
price, but write Thy words, and teach
her lips to kits them. Amen."
It will no doubt occur to some to ask
why, with "Patience Worth's" exceptional
advantages of acquiring, all wisdom in the
spiritual world, it is necesiary to call in a
purely mortal physician for the ailments of
little Patience Wee., To this Mrs. Curran
answers :
'"Patience" wants us to do everything for the baby
that we can possibly do without her assistance. This ap
plies also to her physician. There is no daily consultation
with 'Patience' regarding her care, clothing or training.
Dr. L. C. Stocking, infant specialist, has donated his ser
vices to the baby as long as she lives and he is practicing.
There has been no serious disagreement between the
doctor and 'Patience/ 'Patience' ia not consulted aa
long as the baby seems to be doing well under the doc
tor's eare. No condition has ever arisen when 'Patience'
and the physician were at' variance. "
In fact, "Patience." tells the doctor whenever Mr?.
Curran disobeys his instructions. Mrs. Curran liked to
fondle the child and could not bear to hear it cry. .The
doctor thought that a baby ought to cry a certain amount.
"Patience" would tell the physician every time Mra.
Curran quieted it.
Again, it waa too great a temptation to keep rYom
dressing the bnfiy up, and this was against the instructions
of "Patience." ,
"Patience/ says Mrs Curran, "pre?fere very plain
dress, somewhat ob the order of the <>?fl Puritan style,
sombre clothes of drab and gray, possibly touches of
white at the wrist and neck. She wants her ahoes amply
large and comfortable and is against anything that will
Mrs. Curran giving Little Patience Worth Wee a message from the
spirit mother "Patience Worth."
bind Jhe body in any way. The baby looks very attrac
tive in the poke bonnet, pettiskirt, bodice and cape of the
old Puritan days. But the temptation is to put on
frilla."
"Patience" told the doctor about Mrs. CuH*aiVs dis
obedience in these words:
"Thou takest care of the innards of the wee one's,
and these here take care of the outard.? There are no
frills upon tbe insides, but lawk ! The ? be frills, and
ribbons and trumpery op the outard!'?'
Such is the'unique etory of the ^aV/ who is being
raised by a "ghost." In the situi.ion lies a most in
teresting possibility which has already served as a theme
for several motion picture stories?Amt eis, the develop
ment of ? child who later becomes the central figure, the
priestess, if not the gciddess of a religious sect which has
grown up around her Clearly, to those who believe that
little Patience Worth Wee is an actual link between the
spiritual world and this material world, she becomes a
unique personality, a child set apart from others. She
provides a nucleus for ju?t such a religious order ss, in
imagination, the motion pictures have dealt with. Al
ready, as Mrs Cnrran says, she hss received presents
from all quarters of the world.
What is to be her future!